Portable fire-escape.



AJW. SMITH.

PORTABLE FlRE ESCAPE.

APPLICATION HLED JAN.8.1916.

l 43 Patented Aug 7, 1917.

2 SHEETS-S-HEET I.

frV VE N TOR A TTORNEP S A. W. SMITH.

PORTABLE FIRE ESCAPE.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 8, I916.

Patented Aug. 7, 1917.

2 $HEETSSHFET 2 A TTOR/VE V8 ALLEN WARWICK SMITH, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

PORTABLE FIRE-ESCAPE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented A11 7, 1917.

Application filed January 8, 1916. Serial No. 70,958.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALLEN WARWICK SMITH, a citizen of the United States,and a resident of the city of New York, New Brighton, borough ofRichmond, in the county of Richmond and State of New York, have inventeda new and Improved Portable Fire-Escape, of which the following is afull, clear, and exact description.

The object of the invention is to provide a new and improved portablefire escape arranged to permit firemen to quickly place it in positionon the sidewalk in front of the wall of a building to allow persons inthe building to pass from any window to the fire escape to be lowered bythe latter to the sidewalk, and to permit firemen to be raised to anywindow for assisting in the escape of persons from the building, and foreffectively fighting the fire at any one story.

In order to accomplish the desired result, use is made of a group ofposts, carriers mounted to slide up and down on the posts, hoistingmeans moimted on the said posts and connected with the said carriers toraise and lower the same, and a platform extending within the space ofthe group of posts and attached to the said carriers.

r1 practical embodiment of the invention is represented in theaccompanying drawings forming a part of this specification, in whichsimilar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all theviews.

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the portable fire escape in erectedposition;

Fig. 2 is a sectional plan view of the same on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged side elevation of a portion of the foldableplatform;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged sectional side elevation of one of the posts, itscarrier, the hoisting means for the same and the connection between thecarrier and the platform;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged sectional plan view of the same on the line 55 ofFig. 4;

Fig. 6 is a sectional plan view of the posts and a brace engaging thesame in case the posts are of extraordinary height; and

Fig. 7 is an enlarged sectional side elevation of the same, on the line77 of Fig. 6.

As shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 6, use is made of three hollow posts 10,preferably made of iron tubes, of a suitable height to reach, at least,the upper floor of a building when set up on the sidewalk in front of awall of a building. The posts 10 are spaced equidistantly apart when setup and within each post is arranged a carrier 11 provided with rollers12 located one above the other and in contact at their peripheral faceswith the inner face of the corresponding post 10. The rollers 12 arepreferably set at angles one relatively to the other, as plainlyindicated in Fig. 4. To each of the carriers 11 is secured a hook 13,the shank of which extends through a vertical slot 14. formed in thecorresponding post '10 from near the bottom thereof to within a shortdistance of the upper end, as indicated in the drawings. The severalhooks 13 of the carrier 11 are engaged by rings 15 mounted 011 clips 16attached to the frame 17 of a platform 18 extending within the spaceinclosed by the posts 10, as plainly shown in Figs. 1 and 2, theplatform serving to carry persons from the building down to thesidewalk, to raise firemen to any one story to assist persons to reachthe platform from a window and to also enable firemen to effectivelyfight the fire at any one floor when taking hose along during the ascentof the platform with the firemen thereon.

The body 19 of the platform is preferably made of a suitable fireprooffabric fastened in any suitable manner to the frame 17 of the platform18. In order to raise and lower the platform 18 the followingarrangement is made: To the top of each carrier 11 (see Fig. 1) isattached a tackle block 20 engaged by a rope, cable or a similarflexible connection 22 connected with a tackle block 21 attached to thecap 23 of the corresponding tube 10, the flexible connection 22extending from the tackle block 21 through an eye 2a formed in the sideof the post 10 so that the outer end of the flexible connection 22 hangsdown on the outside of the corresponding post 10 to be within convenientreach of firemen or other persons at the sidewalk. Thus when theplatform 18 is in lowermost position and a pull is exerted on the outerends of the flexible connections 22 then the carriers 11 are liftedwithin the posts 10 and in doing so raise the platform 18 to anyclesired height to locate the platform directly opposite the window ofthe building for persons to pass from this window onto the platform tobe next lowered by the firemen manipulating the flexible connections 22correspondingly. In order to reach the window, the platform 18 ispreferably provided with an extension 25 projecting beyond two of theposts 10, as plainly indicated in Fig. 2, to permit a person to readilystep from the window onto the platform 18. frame 17 of the platform ispreferably provided with a suitable railing 26 extending to the entranceend of the extension to prevent 'persons from falling off the platformwhile being lowered to the sidewalk.

In order to permit of conveniently carrying the portable fire escape ona ladder truck of the fire department the posts 10 are detachablyconnected with each other and the platform 18 is made in sections tofold up into a comparatively small space for convenient transportationon the truck. For the purpose mentioned, the posts 10 near their lowerends are provided with bands 30 having eyes 31 engaged by snap hooks 32of sectional braces 33 provided with suitable turnbuckles 34 to shortenor lengthen the braces to hold the posts the desired distances apart.

The upper ends of the posts 10 are connected with each other by caps 35formed on the arms of a spider 36 provided with braces 37 terminating inforks 38 adapted, to engage headed pins 39 attached to the posts 10 nearthe upper ends thereof. The braces 37 radiate from the center of thespider 36 and are inclined downwardly and outwardly sothat the spidercan be readily fitted with its caps 35 onto the upper ends of the posts10'and the forks 38 can be readily engaged with the pins 39 to rigidlyconnect the upper ends of the posts with each other, and to hold thesame the desired distance apart.

It isunders'tood that when the fire escape is not in use the hooks 32are disconnected from the eyes 31 and the spider. 36with its braces 37is disengaged from the upper ends ofthe posts 10 and the rings15 aredisengaged from the hooks 13 to allow of conveniently transporting theposts 10 in a bundle on the fire truck together, with the braces 33, thespider 3G and. the platform l8until the fire is reached.

In order to allow of folding the platform 1.8 the frame 17 is made insections connected with each other by hinges 40 and from the sectionsat. the hinges 40 dependbrackets 41, 42 adapted to abut against eachother with their vertical members 4.3 and 4:4 to reinforce the sectionalframe 17 at the hinges. The bracket 11 is provided with a keeper -14;adapted to be engaged by a springpressed latch 45 fulcrumed on the otherbracket as to securely lock the brackets 11 and 42 together to preventaccidental opening of the hinged sections of the frame 17 and toreinforce the latter at the hinged ends, as will be readily understoodby reference to Fig. 3.

In case the posts 10 are of considerable height then an additional.brace may be used, intermediate the ends of the post and The this brace50 is preferably made of a single piece of metal split at one end andprovided at the adjacent ends with a sleeve 51 to fasten the endstogether by the use of set screws or bolts 52. The brace 50 is providedwith integral bands 53 encircling the posts lO'to within short distancesof the side walls of the slots let, and each band 53 is provided at itsinner face with a vertical recess 54: for passing over a spring arm 55secured to the corresponding post 10, the said spring arm 55 engagingwith its upper end the lower edge of the corresponding band 53 after thebrace 50 is placed. in position. on the post (see Fig. 7.).

The carriers 11 are cushioned when. moving into.- lowermost position. bythe use of coil springs "held in; the lower ends of the hollow posts10.. In. order 'to. permit: the fire escape to be readily moved alongthe sidewalkto-a desired position, use is made of casters mounted on thelower ends of. the posts 10, the casters being preferably of thecombination wheel: and lever type-topermit of using the wheels forrolling along the sidewalk until the desiredipositionisreached and forthen moving the wheels off the side walk to allow the levers to-rest. onthe side walk to hold the fire escapeagainst accidental movement whilebeingused;forlowering persons desiring to escape from the burningbuilding or for elevating firemento any one of. the floors. Thecombination casters referred toare of. well lmown. con..- struction. so,that further detail description of. the same is not. deemed necessary.

It will be noticed that the fabric bodyyl9 of the platform provides asafety net. for persons tojump. into from above.

Having thus described my invention, I claimas new and desire to secureby. Letters Patentz.

1. A portable fireescape, comprising a group of hollowposts providedwith vertical slots, removable means for holding the posts spaced apart,carriers within-the said posts and having rollers in contact with theinner faces of the posts,,a hook attached to each carrier and,projecting. through the slot of the corresponding post, hoisting meansmounted. on, the posts and: connected: with the said carriers toraiseand lower the latter, and a platform extending within the spaceformed by the posts andhaving rings detachably engaging the said-hooks.

2. A portable fire escape,. comprising a group of hollow postsprovidedwith vertical slots, removable means for holding the posts spaced apart,carriers within; the said posts and having rollers in contact with theinner faces ofthe posts, a hook attached to each carrier andeprojecting'through the. slot of the corresponding post, hoisting'means mounted. onthe posts and connected; with the said. carriersto raiseand lower; thelat ter, and a platform extending within the space formed by the postsand having rings detachably engaging the said hooks, the said platformhaving an entrance extension projecting between adjacent posts.

3. A portable fire escape, comprising a group of tubular slotted posts,means for detachably connecting the posts together, carriers mounted toslide up and down in the posts and having members projecting through theslots thereof, hoisting means mounted on the said posts and connectedwith the said carriers to raise and lower the same, a platform extendingwithin the space of the group of posts and attached to the members ofsaid carriers, and springs in the lower ends of the posts for cushioningthe carriers on reaching lowermost position.

4:. A portable fire escape, comprising a group of posts, means fordetachably connecting the posts together, carriers mounted to slide upand down on the posts, hoisting means mounted on the said'posts andconnected with the said carriers to raise and lower the same, a platformextending within the space of the group of posts and attached to thesaid carriers, the said platform being made in sections hinged togetherfor holding the sections, and self-locking means for locking theplatform sections one relatively to the other when in extended position.

5. A portable fire escape, comprising a group of hollow posts providedwith vertical slots, carriers within the said posts and each providedwith rollers one above the other and disposed at an angle one to theother, hooks attached to the carriers and projecting through the saidslots, sets of tackle blocks for each post, one of the tackle blocks ofa set being attached to the top of a carrier and the other to the top ofthe corresponding post, ropes engaging the said tackle blocks andextending to the outside of the posts at the upper ends thereof, and aplatform extending within the space formed by the group of posts, theplatform having rings adapted to engage the said hooks.

6. In a portable fire escape, a group of posts, carriers slidablymounted on the posts, means for operating the carriers, a platform inthe space between the posts and detachably connected with the carriers,and a brace detachably connecting the posts together, said bracecomprising a split ring-like member, having loop-shaped portions fittingupon the posts and provided at its ends with means for detachablysecuring them together.

7. In a portable fire escape, a group of posts, carriers slidablymounted on the posts, means for operating the carriers, a platform inthe space between the posts and detachably connected with the carriers,a brace detachably connecting the posts together, said brace comprisinga split ring-like member having looped shaped portions fitting upon theposts and provided with means for detachably securing its ends together,and spring members on the posts and with which the looped shapedportions of the brace engage.

8. In a portable fire escape, a group of detachably connected posts,carriers mounted to slide up and down on the posts, means for operatingsaid carriers, and a platform detachably connected with the carriers,the platform comprising hinged sections having depending bracketsadapted to abut against each other and provided with means for lockingthem together.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

ALLEN WARWVIOK SMITH.

Witnesses:

THEo. Gr. Hos'rnR, Gr. H. EMSLIE.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Iatents, Washington, D. C.

